Why does the data paradigm need to shift in ecology? As society faces global-scale environmental issues, ecologists need to share and integrate their data to address questions at larger spatial scales and longer time frames. While exemplars of large-scale ecological data sharing and integration exist, ecology still lags behind many other disciplines in joining the information age. With enormous amounts of information available on every subject at the touch of a finger, why are ecologists hesitant to not only share their data but also make use of community data? Many ecologists report being discouraged by questions about data ownership, quality, provenance and proper citation as well as a potential lack of formal recognition for sharing their data. Join representatives from NEON, DataONE and NCEAS, as well as your fellow ecologists, to discuss these issues and strategies to address these data sharing/using barriers. What incentives do you need to share your data or encourage your students to use publically available data in their theses and dissertations? How do ecologists stay relevant in the information age if they don’t collaboratively use and share data in the public domain? We invite you to bring your lunch and opinions to this important and stimulating discussion.